Twister ring



Jan. 31, 1939. G GOODCHlLD 2,145,478

TWISTER RING Filed Jan. 26, 1937 4 5 ii 1 14 I 2x O i M a O ATTORNEY.

Patented Jan. 31, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TWISTER RING Application January 26, 1931, Serial No. 122,330 2 Claims. (Cl. 118-595) This invention relates to spinning and twister rings, hereinafter referred to generically, where the context permits, as twisterrings.

In high speed twister rings the travellers m volve at such velocity that some lubrication of the rings is necessary in order to prevent the travellers from burning up. A typical traveller speed is in the neighborhood of five thousand feet per minute, although some travellers revolve at higher speeds. The satisfactory lubrication of such a ring is diificult both because of the nature of the traveller and its bearing on the ring and, also, for the reason that it is highly important to prevent any contact of the yarn being spun it with oil, grease, or other lubricating material. A

common practice is for the spinning frame attendant or operator to rub a small quantity of grease on to the inner surface of the ring after each doff and preparatory to starting up the ma- 26) chine again. It is impossible to apply the lubricant uniformly in this manner and too much grease will be applied to some rings and too little'to others. Furthermore, the lubricating condition on any ring will change during the run so that before the next shut-down mam; of the rings in the frame may be dry. In any event, the degree of lubrication will have changed materially in the meantime. This fact is readily observed from the increase in power consumption which gradually occurs during the run.

With a view to improving these conditions, it has been proposed heretofore to equip spinning frames with automatic means for lubricating the rings. While some of these arrangements have proved advantageous, nevertheless much trouble has been experienced with them, particularly due to leakage, and because of the difficulty of controlling the feed of oil so that the very small quantity required will be supplied continuously and uniformly to the surfaces on which the traveller bears. To devise a self-lubricating ring which will satisfy these requirements and avoid the foregoing objections constitutes the chief object of the present invention.

w The nature of the invention will be readily understood from the following description when read in connection with the accompanying drawing, and the novel features will be particularly an pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawing,

Figure 1 is a plan view of a portion of a ring rail with a ring embodying this invention mounted in said rail;

55 Figs. 2 and 3 are vertical, sectional views approximately on the lines 2-2 and 33, respectively, of Fig. 1': and

Fig. 4 is a sectional view through the main body of the ring rail showing substantially the relationship between this part of the ringand the 5 traveller.

The ring shown in the drawing has a body portion 2 much like those of the common forms of prior commercial rings, this part consisting essentially of an upright annular flange forming I a track on which the traveller 3 runs. The inner surface of the ring includes a broad bearing face a, Fig. 2, for the knee of the traveller, and an-' nular grooves b and c at the upper and lower edges, respectively, of said face; Surrounding 15 the flange or body portion 2 of the ring is an annular oil reservoir 4, the walls of this reservoir being integral with the flange 2, and projecting laterally from the reservoir is a short flange section 5 resting on the ring rail 6. This entire a0 ring is a single integral structure. The top of the reservoir 4 normally is closed by a removable cover 7 of annular form, and preferably made of some transparent flexible material, such as celluloid, cellulose acetate, or equivalent substances. as In addition, this cover is provided with one or more holes 8 through which a hook or other implement can be inserted to remove the cover, this hole also afiording entrance for the end of an oil can by means of which the supply of oil in so the reservoir may be replenished when necessary.

In order to supply oil to the surfaces on which the traveller 3 bears at the very slow, but uniform, rate necessary to maintain substantially the desired lubricating conditions continuously, ducts 35 ill-l 0, Fig. 3, are drilled downwardly through the flange 2 from the upper groove b into the reservoir, and wicks i2,l2 are positioned in these ducts. Preferably the ducts are arranged in pairs at diametrically opposite points, the individuals of each pair being located closely adjacent to each other so that a short portion of each wick i 2 extending from the upper end of one duct to the next lies in the groove b, and the tail portions of the wick lie in the bottom of the oil reservoir. Additional ducts l3--l3, Fig. 2, are drilled from the upper portion of the groove c upwardly and open into the reservoir 4 at points considerably above its bottom. Wicks "-44 are threaded through these ducts and they are arranged in pairs, as are the ducts ill-ill, so that only a short section of each wick I4 is exposed at the inner surface of" the ring. The level of the oil that will be maintained in the reservoir 4 will be such that any gravity flow of oil through the u ducts and out of the reservoir will be prevented. The wicks, however, can feed oil from the reservoir to the grooves b and c by capillarity, but only by lifting the oil out of the reservoir.

It should also be observed that the portions of the wicks exposed at the inner surface of the ring are located entirely out of the path of movement of the traveller 3, so'that the traveller never touches the wicks. However, oil delivered to the groove b by the wicks l2--l2 creeps downwardly on to the face against which the traveller bears, and a very thin film of oil is carried by the traveller along the bearing surface, thus lubricating this entire surface with which the knee of the traveller contacts. While there preferably is no actual contact of the traveller with the wicks, nevertheless its movement past the wicks close to them materially increases the rate at which they will transfer' oil, due possibly to some phenomena of surface tension. Whatever may be the underlying cause, however, this action actually occurs in practice.

In the same way the wicks l3-l3 transfer oil to the lower groove 0 where it creeps down over the lower edge of the ring and lubricates the heel of the traveller. Here, also, the exposed surfaces of the wicks lie entirely outside the path of movement of the traveller.

With this arrangement oil is fed very slowly, but continuously, from the reservoir to the inner surfaces of the ring and finds its way on to those areas subjected to the greatest friction. Thus substantially the desired lubricating conditions are maintained continuously. Since the reservoir is an integral part of thering, it cannot leak. It is closed by a transparent cover having only small openings so that there are no exposed oily areas which can collect dust and fly. At the same time the level of the oil in the reservoir can readily be observed through the transparent cover. In addition, the ring is of such a nature that it can be manufactured economically.

While the ring may be mounted in the ring rail in any desired manner, the particular arrangement shown consists of a coiled spring l5 extending entirely around the reservoir and positioned in a groove l6 formed in this portion of the ring. It bears against the lower inclined or bevelled face ll of the ring rail 6, and therefore serves, by its own inherent contractile tendency,

to lock the ring against upward movement out of its aperture in the rail. It can, however, be pulled down over the bottom of the ring, after which the ring can readily be lifted out of its seat on the rail.

While I have herein shown and described a typical embodiment of my invention, it will be understood that the invention may be embodied in other forms without departing from the spirit or scope thereof.

Having thus described my invention, what I desire to claim as new is: v,

1. A twister ring including an annular upright flange to support and guide the traveller, an annular oil reservoir surrounding said flange and integral therewith, the inner surface of the ring having a bearing face for the knee of the traveller, an annular groove at the upper edge of said face and another annular groove at the lower edge of said face, ducts extending through the ring from said grooves into said reservoir, and wicks in said ducts, both the wicks and said ducts being arranged to cause the wicks to lift the oil from the reservoir by capillarity and feed it to the grooves.

2. A twister ring comprising an annular upright flange adapted to support and guide a traveler, an annular oil reservoir surrounding said flange, the walls of said reservoir being integral with said flange, said reservoir being constructed to hold a substantial body of oil and to prevent gravity leakage of the oil therefrom, the inner surface of said flange having a bearing face on which the knee of the traveler runs and being provided, also, with an annular groove at the upper edge of said face, one or more oil ducts drilled downwardly in a diagonal direction from said groove into said reservoir, the reservoir being located below the level of said groove, a

wick extending through each of said ducts and into the reservoir and serving to lift the oil by capillarity from said reservoir and to feed. it to said groove, the parts of said wicks exposed at the inner surface of said flange being out of the path of movement of the traveler, and an annular cover of translucent material normally closing the top of said annular reservoir, said ring being grooved to provide a seat for said cover in which it is removably mounted.

GEORGE GOODCHILD. 

